HC Wainwright Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE)

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by analysts at HC Wainwright in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $22.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright’s price target points to a potential upside of 60.58% from the company’s previous close.

WVE has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Wave Life Sciences from $13.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Wave Life Sciences from $11.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Leerink Partners raised their price objective on Wave Life Sciences from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Wave Life Sciences from $7.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of Wave Life Sciences from $11.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wave Life Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.44.

Wave Life Sciences Stock Down 4.3 %

WVE traded down $0.62 during trading on Thursday, reaching $13.70. The stock had a trading volume of 211,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,097,587. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $8.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.17 and a beta of -1.10. Wave Life Sciences has a 1-year low of $3.50 and a 1-year high of $15.92.

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by ($0.09). Wave Life Sciences had a negative net margin of 66.50% and a negative return on equity of 1,395.99%. The firm had revenue of $19.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.20) EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Wave Life Sciences will post -1.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Wave Life Sciences

In related news, major shareholder Plc Gsk acquired 2,791,930 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.00 per share, with a total value of $22,335,440.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 16,775,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $134,205,528. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Chris Francis sold 208,836 shares of Wave Life Sciences stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.67, for a total value of $2,854,788.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Plc Gsk purchased 2,791,930 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.00 per share, for a total transaction of $22,335,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 16,775,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,205,528. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 364,822 shares of company stock worth $4,645,768. 29.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wave Life Sciences

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WVE. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 23.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 856 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Wave Life Sciences by 50.2% in the 1st quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 7,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 2,451 shares in the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $74,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 1,905 shares in the last quarter. 89.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Wave Life Sciences

Wave Life Sciences Ltd., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, designs, develops, and commercializes ribonucleic acid (RNA) medicines through PRISM, a discovery and drug development platform. The company's RNA medicines platform, PRISM, combines multiple modalities, chemistry innovation, and deep insights into human genetics to deliver scientific breakthroughs that treat both rare and prevalent disorders.